The 2015 Allotment / Veg Patch Thread - it's here!

[TheSpottedZebra]

Yes, it's the thread you've all been waiting for, a place to chit chat about your allotment or fruit and veg patch - however big it may be. Even if it currently only imaginary or no bigger than a pot of growing basil from the supermarket.

Come discuss your plans, your seeds, your learnings from previous years and your goals for this year. All levels of knowledge welcome, from absolute beginner, to enthusiastic 2nd year-er (me!), to anyone else.

I didn't get my seeds sown at the weekend, but DH did set up one of those box bench things up at the plot for my tool storage, last year I just left them out in the long grass with small buts in a big tupperware box, so this will be an improvement, will plan to take everything back up there from home tomorrow. I've been thinking of doing a pallet raised bed too, as we currently have one on the drive.

Been today to put more posts in and managed to put up a bit of netting. Have to wait for master carpenter (DH!) to make the gates before we can do the rest.
My sprouting broccoli has now started to produce properly, so picked and eaten tonight already :) Leeks have to be a major component now in most of my meals- need to use them up so I can get the space ready for new crops.
Also needed to batten down and hide the plastic bench seat in the shed :)
, hidden my little mini greenhouse in the big greenhouse and tried to put everything inside I can, the wind is supposed to be bad tonight/tomorrow, so just hope all is secured .

Finally got my seeds planted! I realised I was never going to get round to making enough newspaper pots and spotted some little ones made out of recycled paper in Sainsburys today, so I bought those. Filled them all with compost outdoors and retreated to the kitchen table to plant them all up and load them into the propagator. Have done sweetcorn, two types of toms, garden and snap peas, French marigolds and morning glory (as requested by DS). Also had to rebuild my mini green house, which had fallen to pieces in the wind. Hope everyone else is weathering the stormy weather ok.

Was it on this thread that someone said that they covered their newly dug ground with net to keep cats off?
I am about to dig up front garden and the cats are a menace..

was it the flexible bird netting stuff or the rigid fencing kind?

Holly hope you're feeling better now.

Mink there have been all kinds of suggestions for cats - from laying down thorny branches to sprinkling orange peel. You can borrow my dogs if you like - they're quite effective .

Rubbish weather here lately so not been able to do much, but I have at least been able to get to the greenhouse to check on everything every day. I've started a spreadsheet listing when I sow things, when they germinate, when they get planted out and so on. Hopefully it'll be useful in future years. So far plants germinated are:

Edibles: Basil, French beans, Strawberry sticks, rhubarb
Flowers: Antirhinum, Aster, Brachyome

Think I'll try and get a couple more types of tomatoes sown - I'm a bit concerned I did the first lot too early as no signs of life from them and it's been over a month now.

Keeping fingers crossed for a lovely sunny weekend - we lost some fencing in the wind so need to get out and sort it!

Morning everyone, not much growing action recently from me either. Those winds! Have had a couple of broken bits from garden also, and will spend a few hours on plot today - fingers crossed that my rickety shed is still standing, although if it IS going to collapse, now would be a good time, before there is loads of stuff in the ground I guess.

Today is operation Last Day of Weeding that Bloody Bed and get those Potatoes Planted Day. I might make a commemorative mug for it. In next couple of days I'll have a bash at moving the garlic and will perhaps take my harvest of rhubarb.

Seed wise, my yard long beans are getting big. I think I sowed them too early after reading that they need a long season, as it's too cold and windy for them outside I think. I've started off a few more toms too, including more of the blight resistant ones I got from the Gardener's World offer. Maybe I will start off some marigolds soon? I think I'll have a look a my seedy spreadsheet and see what else I can sow. I wish I'd added in germination date info as per Cupcakes's one, so that can be version 2.0 !

Happy LDOWTBRAGTPP Day Zebra! Slightly off-topic but I have to ask. Are your spots instead of the traditional zebra stripes, or in addition to? Just trying to get a picture in my head.

They are instead of. Still black and white though.

good evening !
poor shove life is not fair- hope you are feeling better
phew whoknows - I did manage to make some paper pots for my sweetcorn, which are now sown , but I hold my hand up and admit I buy the little fibre pots- if I see them on special offer, I always buy some!
lettherebe -mm - a month for tomato seeds - seems like a problem. I had mine indoors with plastic bags over the pots until they germinated - they took about 6-7 days. Now, what is interesting, I sowed one pot of the wrong variety, and when I realised, I put that pot in the greenhouse - they have not germinated after a month. Could it be that its too cold for them?
spotted - I hope it went well with the potatoes ! :)
I popped up this afternoon to harvest leeks/kale and sprouting broccoli , still windy...raked and levelled where my potatoes are going - hoping to plant tomorrow as it looks like rain on Friday.
Not too much damage from the wind - one cloche blown into a fence , thats all as far as I can see.
Must try to harden off the celeriac, but its still going down to 1º tonight pah!

we had a really productive day yesterday - both DH and I were off work anf mini kimmi was at the child minders. We got all the bits needed - some patio slabs for the corner, weed control fabric, more plants opps but it took ages! That was 3 hours of the day gone! (although it means things can be done now)

We painted 2 fence panels and put some trellis on and tied up the logan berry.

I managed to acquire 6 pallets, and have painted 2 of them so hopefully by end of play today I'll have a pallet garden ready!

all of my salad seeds (pak choi, tumbling toms and lettuce) have gone really leggy and I'm not sure what to do with them - they were on the kitchen window sill but I put them outside and now they look worse!!

At least its april so I can sow more seeds!! I better have a read of my month by month gardening guide!!

I am definitely going to go for the laying down new compost, putting net/fencing over it and then plant through it to deter the cats. Have tried everything else nothing works so this at least might stop them scraping away too much.

Just not sure which would work better...bird netting or that green plastic roll out fencing? Is that stuff expensive? In long run I am guessing it would be easier to remove/ less tatty than net. I was planning on planting/ sowing through it and just letting stuff grow up through it as this is all going to be cover planting and perennials.

So, LDOWTBBAGPP Day was a bit of a failure. I had about 40 mins at the plot before I got a call to say that a mini Zebra had had a collision at football and had a bad cut that needed hospital attendance... He's fine, but it did put the kibosh on my planned day. So it may reconvene today, hopefully... Loads more heavy rain in the night, so my plot might be more of a quagmire than ever. I'm going to do the bulb planter thing, so not faffing too much with the soil.

my tomato seedlings look good this year, am off to pot them on today from the seed tray so that they don't dry out when we are away for a couple of days.
have 'green zebra' and 'gardener's delight'.

anyone have a recipe for woodruff cordial? have some plants and would like to preserve the aroma instead of just making punch.

'quagmire' really does sound like clay-y mud, doesn't it :o

mink
I put up some berry netting over the seedlings to stop the cats + some ramdom bamboo sticks (with little yoghurt milk bottles on top to stop anyne poking an eye out).

spotted - more rain , and poor mini zebra :)
I just have a new made gate to to coat with cuprinol ( DH made it yesterday-v. impressed) and then I too am off to plant potatoes with a bulb planter -
I shall send mind vibes in sympathy for your quagmire.

mink - as long as you don't need to ever dig it up, I don't suppose it really matters , though something that will eventually rot down may be more environmentally friendly :) netting in whatever grade/size is just a menace when it has plants/weeds/ wrapped around it !
karate - did you leave them out overnight ? you would normally want to harden them off - its still very cold for tomatoes outside, particularly at night

spotted didn't mean to put a smiley face on the rain and poor mini zebra - was supposed to be a :(

one crippled old lady here.
Gorgeous day, got everything done that I can't do tomorrow . Bet it doesn't rain now.
Planted my 3 rows of potatoes - I couldn't find the bulb planter, so used my dibber - worked a treat, many thanks alternative for the tip.
Helped DH with the new gate - it took a long time, so I dug in between helping - we were there 2 hours , and it still needs a bolt on it...
Think I am heading for a muscle soak bath :)

I don't think I'll be as crippled as you but I got one of the pallets done, but it was a struggle to keep turning it over, so I have left the others until tomorrow so DH can help. I have weeded half of the new patio area, cleared a path to the compost heap, watered and turned it still need to cover it over painted a couple of chairs to use as " staging", tidied up some of the plastic pots. Oh and burnt some more stuff and melted mini-kimmi's cosy coupe car it doesn't sound much but it has taken me ages!!

I have my parents and sister up for the weekend, so I am hoping people are in a gardening frame of mind!! either that or a baby sitting frame of mind!!

I hope mini zebra is okay, and make sure he knows he owes you a day of weeding!!

yes agoodbook they were left out overnight and are quite soggy. I have replanted to only two seedlings which look like they might make it!! It was the tumbling toms, so I might just plant some more straight in the hanging baskets. I hope a good soak in the bath with a good book soothes the aches and pains!! I'd love a bath, however mini kimmi thinks its an invitation if anyone has a bath

Mm karate I suspect the toms may be a lost cause, they like a nice constant temperature , and not too cool. You have time to sow some more, they do catch up in the warmer weather, alternatively you can buy plug plants and such in a few weeks time . We have a big nursery near me called vertigrow, who I use to fill gaps and losses, I'm sure there will be someone near you.
It would be nice to do a plant swap, as I already have spare tomatoes plants, and will have more, as I always sow too many, anyone anywhere near York ?

Mini Zebra is fine today, thank you for your kind thoughts! I spent a good few hours at the plot, and have now finally finished weeding that last bed... but the spuds still aren't out. Instead I was repairing wind damage - to a fence, to my neighbour's greenhouse (picking up glass), and to my other neighbour's she'd which had been totally blown off its base. My rickety old thing still stands, but most of the roof is now gone. I really should get rid soon.

And I really should get my spuds planted soon too. Quagmire was an understatement. And it's raining again now, with more tomorrow. The spuds aren't earlies anymore, are they?

Once that's done, and the garlic has been moved - possibly fatally - I'm not sure what I'll do next. Maybe I'll chuck my asparagus peas out soon, it it still seems jolly cold. Perhaps I'll sow some beetroot or something? Hmm... I've been growing broccoli raab and cavolo nero but they don't look too strong yet, not sure they're ready. I do still have piles of mud with weedy roots piled up, to sort through. I'm sort of drying them so that the clay chunks off nicely and I can put the soil back, only they're not too dry. I could dig weeds out of the path, but I'm a bit over digging weeds for now I think.

spotted you need a -that sounds like a tricky day!
Reminds me of when we had just taken over our plot, and the allotment people had put a roof on the very old shed- it was a piece woggly roofing panel - no idea what it is called. We had the most immense storm, and the wind peeled the roof off, and left it flapping. Me and DH were there in the belting rain trying to nail it back on.
Don't worry about the potatoes , they will be fine for a while yet.
I will be honest- I have never weeded the paths - that is a step too far for me!
and it is still cold for planting out, unless you have some fleece or cloches - beetroot I will be direct sowing in about 2 weeks, and maybe do some in plugs at the same time as insurance

Its a little while since I've managed to get on this thread. We've had a busy couple of weeks with family and birthday party stuff going on so I haven't had much free time.

I used netting to put over the top of the border to keep my cat off when I replanted the front garden. And used lots of random bits of sticks off our hedge to discourage her from climbing on top of it and still trying to use it (she was nothing if not persistent!). I also used flat grey/green slate to go around all the new plants. This seemed to be less attractive than small pebbles/stones.

Managed to get over to the allotment yesterday with my daughter in tow. We planted a row of potatoes (Charlotte). She has got her own little border and we planted a couple in there for her. She spent most of the time digging herself a little path. I knew the weather was going to be rubbish here today so I was determined to get some potatoes in. So far I've managed to plant a half row of shallots, a half row of yellow onions and the potatoes. I've got some more onions to plant. If the weather cheers up I'll try and get that done and the rest of the potatoes. And I want to start some seedlings off in pots now but not too many as we are away for a week next week so I don't want them to germinate and then promptly die for lack of care.

Hope Spotted Zebra son is on the mend.

My neighbour has planted out peas or possibly sweet peas, not sure which. And broad beans. But its still been cold here. It's just the uncertainty of not knowing whether to hold fire or go for it, isn't it?